Television

Now anyone with a high-speed Internet connection can find out what's on TV, watch a favorite show online, and read about the stars that make it great. In this guide, you'll learn about the history of television, how to find reviews, and how to keep your kids safe while watching cable. You can even learn about the pixels and wires that make the whole thing work.

The days of scrambling home from school, cutting dinners short, or not making plans on the night of your favorite show are a thing of the past. With nothing more than a standard Internet browser (that's right, no annoying plug-ins to download) you can surf your way to quality programming using your mouse as the remote.

ABC, NBC, and CBS all have high-quality video players showing each station's top shows. And don't miss, of course, the ever-expanding YouTube universe. As you download a show to watch, however, press pause and let the video load fully before you watch it; otherwise, you'll have to deal with choppy streaming and slow-moving images.

The shows you watch will likely be interrupted by advertising spots about three times per episode. You'll notice upon opening the player that you can watch individual episodes only until the next commercial. To combat this, try fast-forwarding from commercial to commercial or watching all of them first, and then returning to the beginning to view the whole episode.

If you're a video-blogger, budding director, pod-caster, or producer, you should explore independent television as a way to broadcast your work.

ABC.com
has a recently upgraded, high-quality video player on which you can watch full-screen clips and episodes from your favorite ABC shows. Episodes from hit shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy, along with reality series like Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor, air online the day after their TV debuts. You can generally watch the five or six most recent episodes of each series, which allows you to get up to speed on shows you didn't catch from the beginning. Click on the "full episodes" tab at the top of the homepage.

NBC.com
provides viewers with full-length episodes of the network's prime-time shows, and extras and expanded coverage from other NBC shows. For example, the antics of Late Night host Conan O'Brien are captured via a number of video clips, a message board, blog, and more. New shows are posted at 5 PM ET following their network debut.

CBS.com
's Innertube not only offers complete episodes of top shows like CSI (in all its alterations), NUMB3RS, and Survivor, but it brings you episodes of CBS News, a limited selection of movies, specials (like the Grammys), daytime soaps, and much more. CBS.com has the largest range of online programming of any major network.

CurrentTV
is an indie media site cofounded by former U.S. vice president Al Gore. Instead of traditional shows, this site airs "pods," which are short, democratically selected, clip-based programs. At present, 30% of the pods on CurrentTV are user-submitted, in line with Gore's vision to create a channel that gives a voice to individuals. Join the movement and be one of many furthering this new form of broadcasting.

Veoh
is another online television distribution site that draws content from all over the entertainment spectrum, covering broadcasting by major networks and independent film makers alike. By downloading the Veoh "Player," users can watch HD-quality Veoh programming on their own time.

BeelineTV.com
is a directory of free international television stations. Azerbaijanis craving a taste of home will delight in knowing they can stream Gunaz TV directly to their desktop. Not to feel left out, Slovenian, Serbian, British, and Spanish folks alike will find home-cooked broadcasting only a click away.

WwiTV
is a directory of live TV Web casts from around the globe. Enter the site, and on the column on the left you'll see a running list of country names, followed by the number of stations available for viewing. Ignore the centrally placed Google ads and explore 92 British stations and nearly 600 American channels, organized by region. After selecting your desired country, click the station name to open a viewing window and watch away.

Channelchooser
is a free TV site that streams stations from around the world. Unlike the previous two directories, channelchooser's stations are arranged by genre, not country. News, entertainment, movies, reality, music, and more are at your disposal, and stations are arranged so that you can easily find the type of programming you seek.

Mashable
had a post in June 2007 detailing "33 Ways to Watch Free TV Online." This is your definitive guide to online video on the Web, as it includes video sharing sites, TV stations, and video hosting sites.